Button positioning mechanism



Oct. 25, 1938. v 0, J, HUELSTER 2,134,404

BUTTON POS ITIONING MECHNISM BY I o. J. HUELSTER BUTTON P OSITIONING MECHANISM Filed July 27, v195'/ 2 sheets-sheet 2 Oct. 25, 1938T INVENTOR v.. W @i Qw Ss. L. n mLfN I MTN www NM.. ML Q x, N l Q Il Su wm. QN .1%N. l uw.

Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES BUTTON POSITIONING MECHANISM Otto John Huelster, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application July 211, 1937, Serial No. 155,868

9 Claims.

My present invention relates to a button feeding and positioning or orienting mechanism for a button-attaching machine, and more particularly constitutes an improvement on the mechanism disclosed in the patent to Miller No.

In the above mentioned patent to Miller there is disclosed a machine for feeding and orienting buttons having a design on their top, and means l0 on the button bearing a denite relation to the design, which means cooperates with a part of the mechanism for orienting the design on the button, and for presenting the button in oriented position to the attaching station of the ma- 1l chine. 'The orienting mechanism therein disclosed comprises a rotary member which functions to cut off one button from a line of buttons between the hopper and the registering mechanism and to rotate said button until it is brought into the desired oriented position, after which the rotation of the button is stopped and the button is carried by the rotating part to the end of its rotative position, and from there transferred by a pusher to the jaws of the machine.

The mechanism of the Miller patent haspro'ven very successful but is somewhat complicated and costly to construct.

My present invention has for its primary object the performance of all the functions of the Miller construction with a less complicated, and

therefore,` less costly means. To this end it primarily consists of a standard type of buttonfeedng and attaching machine with a standard cut-oli in the track which releases one button at a time, which button drops bygravity to a registering station Whereat vit is given a rotary or spinning motion with a minimum of friction until the means on the button which bears a denite relation to the design is brought into engagement with the orienting means, whereupon the button is directly operated upon by a pusher which presents the button in desired position to the jaws or setting station of the machine. The invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereim- Figure 1 is a front elevation of that portion of a button-feeding and attaching machine with which the present invention is concerned.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially along the plane of the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

' the underside of the top to provide a raisedvpro-` Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially along the plane ofthe line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7, show atop plan, a bottom plan, anda side elevation, respectively,g of one type of button adapted for use with the machine. `.'S

Referring to the drawings, the orienting or button-positioning mechanism comprises a track or raceway I0 consisting ofa supporting wall II upon which are mounted in spaced relation a pair of undercut rails I2 and I3 providing an undercut groove down which the buttons I4 may move by the action of gravity. The buttons I4 are of the type illustrated in Figs..5y to 7, and comprise a hub I5 having an enlarged head over which is mounted a shell I6 which may have a suitable design or manufacturers trade-mark on the tcp thereof, such, for example, as indicated by the reference numeral II. Theshell has an integral tab I8 which is bent back over .iection thereat which bears a definite relation to the design I 1. If desired, the underside of the button head behind the bent back tab may be formed with an annular groove I9 to provide better cooperative engagement for a locator pin with said tab I8. Obviously the buttons which may be used with the present invention are not limited to that disclosed in Figs. 5 to 7, but may be of other forms and types, in which event the locator means will be formed for cooperative engagement with the registering means on the button.

The raceway I0 intermediate -its ends is provided with a conventional type of cut-off device, herein shown as comprising a disk 20 having a substantially semi-circular recess 2I in its periphery of a size to engage the hub I5 of a button I4, said disk being pivotally mounted with- Vin a cut-out portion of the rail I3 by a` screw 22 or the like. When thus mounted the disk will traverse the groove inthe track, and, in one position will be adapted to receive a button from the track abovevthe disk, and in another position will be adapted to drop or deliver said button to the lower portion of the track, the lower end of which may be designated the button registering station. 'I'he cut-olf disk 20 has projecting from one face thereof a pin 23, and from the opposite face thereof a pin 24. The pin 23 extends through an elongated opening 25 in an angular lever 26, one endof which is pivotally mounted, as at 21, to the face of the rail I2, and the other end of which is laterally oifset to extend in a plane parallel to the main plane of the lever, is pivotally mounted upon a pinl 28 carried by a springvsupport 29 mounted on a rod 30 intermediate the ends thereof. 'I'he spring support is held against pair of nuts 33 screw-threadedly mounted on one end of the rod. The opposite end of ythe rod 38 is formed with an eye 34 which engages within a pair of ears 35 projecting from one end of a gear sector 36.

The gear sector 36 is formed at one end o f a lever 31, the opposite end of which carries a roller 38 in engagement with the surface of a cam 39 over which it is movable, the said lever 31 being pivoted intermediate its ends, as at 40. The gear sector 36 adjacent its end provided with the ears" 35 is formed with a laterally projecting lug 4|, and on the side of the lever opposite said lug with a cam surface 42, the functions for which will presently appear. The teeth of the gear sector at the end thereof provided with the lug 4I and cam surface 42 are cut back a distance approximately equal to the depth of the teeth, as indicated at 43, for a purpose which likewise will presently appear.

In ,suitable bearings 44, 45, mounted respectively on the rails I2 and I3, is a stud shaft 46 upon which is xedly mounted the hub of a lever 41 and adjacent thereto, the hub of a lever 48.

-bifurcated end 50' of the lever portion 49 is a locator pin 5I which extends inwardly toward the track I0 at the registering station thereof and is normally held in a position to engage the tab on the button as the latter is rotated about its axis in the course of being oriented at said registering station. For normally holding the pin in said last-mentioned position, an expansion spring 52 acts upon the upwardly-extending portion 49 of the lever 41, one end of said spring engaging in the socket 49' and the other end being mounted in a socket formed in the rail I3. The lever 48 has a downwardly-extending offset portion, the free end of which is bifurcated, as indicated at 53, and mounted in said bifurcated endis a roller 54 which is adapted to be engaged by the cam surface 42 on the gear sector as it approaches the downward limit of its movement to rotate the shaft 46 to move the locator pin outwardly with respect to the track against the tension of the spring 52.

Extending outwardlyfrom a side wall of the track frame somewhat above the registering station and slightly above the horizontal plane of the shaft 46 is a lug or ear 51 upon which is pivoted the bifurcated upper end 58 of a lever 69, the lower end of which is also bifurcated and has pivotally connected thereto, as at 59', one end of a lever 60, which latter lever extends laterally outwardly with respect to the track. At its end remote from the track, the lever 60 is formed with a socket 6I within which is mounted a spring-pressed pin 62 so that the top thereof extends above the end of the socket, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The end of the lever 60 adjacent its pivoted connection with the lever 59 is formed with a lug 63 which normally bears against the side of track rail I3. The projecting end of the pin 62 is adapted to be engaged by the lug 4I as the gear sector 36 approaches the end of its downward movement and thereby rock the lever 60, and with it the lever 59 about its pivoted end 58.

Carried by the lever 59 intermediatey its ends is a rotatable stub shaft 64 upon which is xedly mounted a spur gear 65 and a disk 66, the spur gear65 meshing with the teeth on the gear sector 36 and the disk 66 extending into a recess or cut-out in the track and adapted to engage the periphery of a button at the registering station.

At the lower end of the track or raceway, that is,

at the registering station thereof and in a common plane with the disk 66, are pivotally mounted disks or rollers 61 and 68 in positions to normally engage the periphery of a button received at the registering station to properly center such button and insure the easy spinning thereof by the disk 66. 'I'he disks 66, 61 and 68,are so mounted so that a button when received at the registering station will have an interlocked position, as will be .obvious 'from the fact that the centers of Vthe disks 66 and 68 are higher than the center spring-pressed gate member 69 which is' adapted to be opened by a pusher rod10 as the latter is moved to engage a button at the registering station and transfer it in oriented position to the jaws (not shown) at an attaching or setting station 1I. To permit of this action by the pusher rod 10 the latter is formed with a terminal recess or bifurcation 12 for engaging and receiving the button as the pusher rod is moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig, 1, the bottom face of the pusher rod being longitudinally grooved as indicated at 13, to clear the top of the disk 61 during the button transferring operation.

Operation-The buttons are first fed by any suitable means, preferably by a hopper (not shown), to the track or raceway I0 until the track becomes loaded with buttons, the bottom button resting against the periphery of the cutoff disk 28. Asthe machine is operated, a rotative movement is imparted to the cut-olf disk 28, bringing the recess 2I thereof into button receiving position, that is, in position to receive the hub of a button. Rotation of the cut-off disk 20 is controlled by movement of the gear sector 36 and the rod 30 carried thereby as the follower roller 38 of the lever 31 moves over the cam surface 39, the movement in either direction being limited by engagement of the pin 24 with the side of the track frame. As the gear sector 36 is moving downwardly a button will be cut off from the track I0 by the disk 20, and a button which will already have been received in the disk 20 will be carried thereby for delivery to the button registering station between the disks 66, 61 and 68. As the gear sector approaches the end of its downward movement, the projection 4I thereon will engage and push down the pin 62 on the lever 60, which will swing outwardly the lever 59 with the spur gear 65and disk 66 thereon a distance equal to the amount that the teeth on the upper end of the gear sector 36' are cut back. This movement is brought about by engagement of the lug 63 against the side frame of the machine, causing the lever 59 to move outwardly about its pivot point on the lug 51. Substantially simultaneous with this movement of the lever 59, the cam surface 42 on the gear sector will engage the roller 54 to rotate the shaft 46 to move the locator pin 5I outwardly, so that the button carried by the cut-off disk can drop down between the disks 66 and 68 to the registering station to be oriented thereat. When the gear sector is` moving upwardly the locator pin 5I will return to its locating position under the tension of spring 52, the spur gear 65 will be rotated and with it the disk 66, to spin the button about its axis which will be stationary until the tab I8 on the button engages the locator pin. When this takes place, the button in orientedposition will be held against further rotation, whereupon the pusher rod 10 is moved inwardly to engage the button and transfer it in its oriented relation from the registering station tothe jaws of the button attaching station 1I.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that I have provided a button-positioning or orienting mechanism which is comparatively simple in construction and eicient in performing the operations for which it is intended, and which can be readily incorporated in a standard button machine.

The invention, it will be appreciated, however, is susceptible of modification and change within the range of engineering skill, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the details of construction herein disclosed except as limited by the spirit of the invention as denedin the appended claims.

' What I claim is:

1. In a button positioning mechanism for buttons or the like having engagement means thereon, in combination, an orienting station adapted to periodically receive and support a button, means at said station comprising a plurality of rotatable elements mounted for rotation in a common plane to conne and' frictionally engage the periphery of the button and rotate it about Y -its axis, at least one of said rotatable elements being positively driven and being movable in said common plane into and out of contact with the button to permit reception and discharge of the button at the orienting station, and means for engaging the engagement means on the button during rotation thereof to orient the button and hold it in such oriented position until further acted upon.

2. In a button positioning mechanism for buttons or the like having engagement means thereon, in combination, a track along which the buttons are fed, a cut-off means for releasing one button at a time from the track, an orienting station in said track dened by a plurality of disks mounted for rotation in a common plane and adapted to periodically receive and frictionally engage between the peripheries vthereof a button as it is released by the cut-off means and conine it for rotation about its axis, at least one of said disks being movable in said plane to vary the distance between its center and the other disks, and means for engaging the engagement means on the button during rotation thereof to orient the button and hold it in said oriented position at said station until further acted upon.

3. In a button positioning mechanism for buttons or the like having engagement means thereon, in combination, a track along which the buttons are fed, a cut-olf means for releasing one button at a time from the track, an orienting station adapted to periodically receive a button as it is released by the cut-off means, means for rotating the button about its axis at said station including a positively driven rotatable disk for frictionally engaging the periphery of a button, means for moving said disk into and out of contact with a button, means for periodically rogagement means on the button during rotation,

thereof to orient the button and hold it in said oriented position at said station until further acted upon.

4. In a button positioning mechanism for buttons or the like having engagement means thereon, in combination, a track along which the buttons are fed, a cut-off ymeans for releasing one button at a time from the track, an orienting station adapted to periodically receive a button as it is released by the cut-off means, a rotatable disk at said station for frictionally engaging the periphery of a button to rotate it about its axis, a pinion for rotating said disk, an oscillatable gear sector in mesh with said pinion for rotating it and the disk, and locator means for engaging the engagement means on the button during rotation thereof to orient the button and to restrain the button against further rotation.

5. A button positioning mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the gear sector has means thereon which, as the gear sector approaches the end of its movement in one direction, functions to move the rotatable disk and the locator means out of button engagement position to permit reception of a button from the cut-olf means to the orienting station. Y

6. A button positioning mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the gear sector is formed adjacent one end thereof with two cams, which, as the gear sectorapproaches the end of its movement in one direction, functions respectively to move the rotatable disk and the locator means out of button engagement position at the orienting station to permit a button from the cut-off means to drop down into the registering station.

7. A button positioning mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the teeth on the gear sector adjacent one end thereof are cut back from the acuate curvature ofthe sector to permit movement of the rotatable disk out of its button engagement relation.

8. A button positioning mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the locator means comprises a pivoted lever provided with a pin for engaging the engagement means on the button, andthe gear 'sector is formed adjacent one end thereof with a cam for engagement with said lever t move the locator pin out of its button engagement position so that a button from the cut-0E means may move into the orienting station.

9. In a button positioning mechanism for buttons or the like having engagement means thereon, in combination, a track along which the buttons are fed, a cut-off means for releasing one lbutton at a time from the track, an orienting 

